1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of lasers, and more specifically to the field of high power laser amplifiers and methods of making the same.
2. History of the Related Art
With the invention of solid-state lasers, the design and uses of lasers in consumer applications has risen dramatically. Small and powerful diode lasers are nearly ubiquitous in numerous kinds of consumer electronics, and they are finding still more applications in the fields of medicine, communications, manufacturing, and commercial and defense aerospace. In particular, edge emitting diode lasers have been shown to provide high power optical outputs at high efficiency, leading to their prevalent use in the marketplace.
However, in spite of recent improvements in edge emitting diode laser design, the spatial beam quality of these lasers is relatively poor thereby degrading the source brightness. If operated in a surface emitting geometry, as in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), good beam quality can be obtained at the expense of low output power due to joule heating at high current densities. To remedy this, optically pumped thin disk semiconductor lasers known as optically pumped vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (OP-VECSEL) or optically pumped semiconductor lasers (OPSL) have been developed that has shown promise for their greater potential for delivering brightness conversion, narrow linewidth and wavelength tunabilty. In spite of the successes enjoyed by OP-VECSEL systems, they have a number of disadvantages including the incorporation of relatively thick, expensive and cumbersome dielectric stack mirrors. Moreover, these mirrors will act both as a heating source as well as introducing thermal impedance between the active medium and the heat sink, which in turn can limit the power output of the system as a whole.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a novel laser cavity and/or laser amplifier that combines ability to deliver brightness conversion, narrow linewidth, and wavelength tunabilty. Such an improved laser amplifier should also be operable at high power with minimal waste heat, and should also be adapted for ease of manufacture, packaging, distribution and incorporation into an array of consumer goods.